Reading has been one of my passions since….well…since I could read or even earlier… since my parents began reading to me.  Sharing books, trips to the library, communicating, understanding, laughing, crying, diving in, escaping.  Stretched out on a towel on a summer day, next to the cool pool in our yard or at the beach.  Curled up in an easy chair in winter or on a sick day from school, in bed late at night.  Read alouds as a family.  Those books where I kept reading to find out what happens but didn’t want the story to end.  The books I finished and then started over again.

When I had young children I believed all they needed was a sandbox, a library, walks in the park and books.

So it is a delight for me to be writing for a new reading program to be launched soon.  This is an opportunity to write picture books with the added challenge of meeting the reading focus for each book.  I even get to suggest the illustrations.  I get to pitch new ideas and then run with them.

It is gratifying to be part of the reading life of young people building the skills for reading that will give them a life time of pleasure, learning and sharing, tears, adventures and smiles.

And here I get to highlight my own grandchildren on their journeys into reading.

Stay tuned for announcement when the program is launched.